1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to air launched munitions such as bombs and more particularly to an aerodynamic wing device which is detachably connected to such a munition for controlling and extending the range thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Highly effective unguided and guided munitions such as, for example, cluster bombs, laser, infra-red, and television guided "smart" missiles which are launched from manned aircraft are in the weapons inventories of many nations. However, since the range of such munitions is limited, it is necessary that the launching aircraft come very close to the target. This presents high exposure of such aircraft to surface-to-air missiles and guns. To reduce this risk, it is therefore highly desirable to increase the stand-off range of the munition so that such munition can be launched a greater distance from the target. Several attempts have been made in the prior art to overcome this problem. Other systems have been developed to extend the range of certain types of munitions and to provide guidance and control.
The PAVEWAY family of smart bombs is a widely known example. In this case, standard 500, 1000, or 2000 pound bombs are fitted with a nose kit (housing a laser seeker and actuated canards) and a tail kit having after-launch deployable "wing" surfaces. This kit extends the range of the bomb and provides terminal guidance.
The GBU-15 is another example of a kit which adds a nose seeker section (in this case, a TV camera seeker) and a tail mounted wing and control surface assembly to provide range extension and guidance to an otherwise short range "dumb" bomb.
Other similar examples such as the French MATRA and Israeli OPHER bomb kits also exist. However, no known system uses the method of the present invention for achieving pitch control through the generation of downwash at the existing munition tail surfaces.
Munitions systems which employ attached wing structures which are folded prior to launch and unfolded after launch and subsequently released from the munition when the target is reached are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,025 issued May 8, 1984 to Bock, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,894 issued Oct. 27, 1981 to Schnabele et al.